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The Opposite of Nun - Day Two Morning 'til Evening
Jacy had let her borrow a cortex before their arrival at the Skyplex. She even left conspicuous data pages open with all sorts of things the nun had to quickly figure out how to swipe past while sitting in the galley. Groans of the worst sort escaped the 'tex's speakers, drawing the eyes of children and a wink from Leo. Sufficiently silenced, Lyen set to her task: communion. She found this Skyplex was home to a modest Temple of the Verse. When they arrived, she donned her kasaya and disappeared into the festive throngs. With little effort, she found the way made itself plain to her. The temple was larger than she expected. The rest of the buildings and people who inhabited them looked work-worn and slightly tarnished, but the temple itself stood separate, lit by the flickering glow of imitation candle light. Bright murals painted images of symbols that denoted peace and enlightenment to those who entered. The inside was browned with age and the passage of many feet, but spotless and well kept. There was a heavy sense of prayer thick in the air; the lives of the people who had come before weighed down like a veil. This was indeed a holy place. Seeing no one, Lyen Gui made herself comfortable on a mat facing a wall of dimly lit murals, closed her eyes, and fell into the lotus position. Envisioning the Verse, to Lyen, was like walking through a maze of corn. On Athens, where she was born, there were mazes during festivals like this one, high walls of soft golden shafts: the very soul of the ground beneath her feet. Each turn led deeper into the golden, each twist met with mystery, each path meant to be followed. One foot after the other, as she remembered, the life she led now looked so much different than what came before... _____________________________________________ "Let's get this over with," Lyen watched the sun set on the distant Athenian horizon. "Remember what I told you: he doesn't like conversation. Stick to your report. You remember what to say?" her grizzled companion wrapped a scarf around his nose and mouth. His cropped hair was the color of hen's eggs. "You kidding? I've dealt with these guys half a dozen times; they always give me what I want." Ly was fidgeting with the handle of the knife at her hip. "Besides, I've done everything they asked. They've got no reason to welch." "You haven't met with this caliber of them before. They don't call themselves the Two-Headed Snake for no reason. There are a million ways this could go sideways." he paused, "They won't like you fidgeting, either." Only his eyes were visible from his wrapped face. Ly huffed, "Don't talk to me like a child--" "Quit fidgeting like one. You're about to walk into a den of wolves." Always so enlightened, she thought. "No one believes you're a monk, just so you know," her eyes narrowed. "I only need to fool so many," he was studying the setting sun. "It's time. They're expecting us." Bao was a figure Lyen had known all of her adult life. He had ties to some kind of militia movement, regrading which he would hastily change the subject. Some part of that secret required him to lay low in the Maya Brahma monastery where he spent most of his time pretending to pray while planning operations for the militia. He had been like this for three years now, wearing the orange kasaya with a weapon strapped to his ribs. Today, he was bringing Lyen into a hub of operations for the Shuāng Tóu Shé, a larger crime syndicate on the planet Athens. The Shuāng Tóu Shé were systematically turning the local elites of Athens against its leaders and officials, which left the bustling rural planet with lots of dirty work that needed doing. Such work was often outsourced to keep the paranoid STS leaders out of the line of fire. Boa and Ly were standing outside a derelict storefront that had once been a ‘99 Creds and Up’ store from the fading signage. The windows and doors had wrought iron bars across them and graffiti littered the walls. Two short knocks on the door and it opened a crack, a grunt from inside and the two were admitted. "Ah, Bao, it's good to see you again. Been tucked away in your monastery for too long. I'll assume you and Lyen encountered no obstacles? Do you have what we want?" Kane, wearing a button-down shirt with the sleeves torn off at the shoulders and a vest, was cleaning his glasses with a corner of his untucked shirt. Lyen produced a small black book from her jacket and handed it to one of Kane's men. "Everything's in there, just like you asked." The man had a reputation for changing his mind often; it was something that kept him unpredictable, and it was suspected that this was just the effect he desired. Always calculating, Kane was rumored to 'tie up loose ends' with his own two hands, in order to ensure something, anything, wouldn't make it back to him or the STS. Boa mentioned to her that one 'contractor' garnered too much suspicion from the local police on a job and wound up strangled to death, body found a week later in the agro-ranch fields. Kane, whose position was obfuscated on purpose, was somewhat of a mouth-piece for the STS. He went to great lengths to distance himself the inane tasks and dirty jobs that were often required to keep the enterprise treading water. Lyen had never even seen the man in person. He had a reputation for changing his expectations mid-job, and freelancers like her were often left with no recourse. Having Bao with her today probably made some difference, though she knew nothing of the history the two shared. "I suspect it is," he said, lazily thumbing through its waxy pages. "And, I expect, you'll want something in return?" He replaced his brown wire frames on the bridge of his nose. "I think you know what I want," Lyen said, cocking her head, a quick glance behind her to the door. It felt like hours, the stare they shared, while calculations were made, escape exits planned, 'alternate' strategies weighed. Ly threw a furtive glance at Bao who had his eyes locked on the man. The monk's left hand was edging toward the sickle in his robes, his brow beading sweat. On a nearby shelf, a lucky cat figurine dipped its hand back--a man shifted his weight behind Bao--and the stale cat wave dipped forward again--Kane clicked his tongue twice, an errant finger picking his teeth. "Very well," Kane said, and motioned to one of his men. A heavy pouch was placed on the table beside him. "And as a bonus," Kane reached into his vest pocket and withdrew a vial of amber liquid, placing it on the table with a smirk, "for good behavior." "Pleasure doing business with you, as always," Lyen said, sauntering to the table to collect the pouch. Palming the vial, she tucked it into an inner pocket. "Guess that leaves us square. Let me know if you've got another job needs doing." With a half salute, Lyen led the way back out the front, Bao close behind. "Don't think I missed that," Bao said, lowering his scarf. It was obvious to her that he wouldn't let Kane's 'bonus' go without discussion. She wouldn't bite. "You do you, my friend, and I'll do me," her fingers traced the outline of the vial through her coat. Oblivion and Nirvana in distilled form, she would ascend to the highest heights, monk be damned. ________________________________________ It was dark, and she had felt the Temple's inhabitants passing around her in the twilight hours. Like ghosts, they had danced the dance of her past before he eyes. She felt the throbbing in her vein, to open, to feel that flight again. Her hand rose to feel her prayer beads, but she found herself tracing the outline of a vial, instead.